Job 5:14
in Job 5They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
KJV
They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThere is a supreme power that manages and overrules men who think themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own purposes in spite of their projects. Observe, First, The froward, that walk contrary to God and the interests of his kingdom, are often very crafty; for they are the seed of the old serpent that was noted for his subtlety.
This site's exposition
They encounter darkness by day
on Job 5:14-16
The crafty "encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night". Meanwhile God "saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful". The section closes with "So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth," the silencing of wrongdoing.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Sometimes not only are their cunning plans impeded in deed, but even their minds are clouded so that they do not discover better things in taking counsel. So he says, "They come upon darkness in the daytime," because in something which is clear, they are …
LITERAL INTERPRETATION. They shall meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noonday as in the night. They 'meet with darkness in the day-time,' for in the very presence of Truth, they were blinded by the deceitfulness of unbelief. For we see clearly in the day-time, but in the night the pupil of our eye is dimmed. Therefore whilst the persecutors beheld the miracles of Divine Power, and yet doubted of His Divine Nature, they were subjected to 'darkness in the day-time,' for they lost their eyesight in the light. Hence it is that 'Light' Itself admonishes them, saying, Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. It is hence that it is said of Judaea, Her sun is gone down, while it was yet day. It is hence that the Prophet again took up in himself the strain of persons in a state of penitence, in these words, We stumble at noonday as in the night, we are in dismal places as dead men. Hence again He says, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night. For 'the watchman came by night,' in that the Guardian of the human race even shewed Himself manifest in the flesh, and yet Judaea, being close pressed by the darkness of her faithlessness, never knew Him. Where it is well added in the voice of the watchman, The morning cometh, and also the night. For by His presence hath a new light shone out upon the world, and yet the former darkness remained in the hearts of unbelievers. And it is well said, They shall grope in the noonday as in the night; for we search out by groping that which we do not see with our eyes. Now the Jews had seen His undisguised miracles, and yet they still went on seeking Him, as it were groping for Him, when they said, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. […]
MORAL INTERPRETATION. They meet with darkness in the day time. And grope in the noonday as in the night. It is good to run through these points in a moral sense, putting aside the signification of the Jewish people, and to trace out in what manner they are transacted by wicked men in general. For the minds of the wicked, when they see some things done well by their neighbours, are strained upon the stretched rack of their jealousy, and they undergo the grievous chastisement of their own malice, when with a consuming heart they see good in others.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Meet - In plain things they run into gross mistakes, and chuse those courses which are worst for themselves. Darkness often notes misery, but here ignorance or error.
They meet with darkness in the daytime,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That the afflictions which are borne well will end well; and Job particularly, if he would come to a better temper, might assure himself that God had great mercy in store for him,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They meet with darkness in the daytime - God confounds them and their measures; and, with all their cunning and dexterity, they are outwitted, and often act on their own projects, planned with care and skill, as if they had been the crudest conceptions of the most disordered minds. They act in noonday as if the sun were extinct, and their eyes put out. Thus does God “abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices.”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They meet with darkness in the day-time - Margin, “run into;” compare the notes at Isa 59:10. The sense is, that where there is really no obstacle to the accomplishment of an honest plan - any more than there is for a man to walk in the day-time - they become perplexed and embarrassed, as much as a man would be, should sudden darkness come around him at mid-day. The same sentiment occurs in Job 12:25. A life of honesty and uprightness will be attended with prosperity, but a man who attempts to carry his plans by trick and art, will meet with unexpected embarrassments. The sentiment in all these expressions is, that God embarrasses the cunning, the crafty, and the artful, but gives success to those who are upright; and that, therefore, he is worthy of confidence.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
By day, they meet darkness For their counsel is not executed nor accomplished, and the light of their wisdom is converted to darkness.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
is hasty Any counsel that is planned hastily is foolishness.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹמָ֥ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | |
| יְפַגְּשׁוּ־ | yefageshu- | they meet | H6298 → | |
| חֹ֑שֶׁךְ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| וְ֝כַלַּ֗יְלָה | vekhalaylah | and like <the> night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| יְֽמַשְׁשׁ֥וּ | yemashu | they grope | H4959 → | |
| בַֽצָּהֳרָֽיִם׃ | vatzohorayim | at <the> noon<s> | H6672 → |
יוֹמָ֥םby day
yomamH3119 →
יְפַגְּשׁוּ־they meet
yefageshu-H6298 →
חֹ֑שֶׁךְdarkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
וְ֝כַלַּ֗יְלָהand like <the> night
vekhalaylahH3915 →233 times
יְֽמַשְׁשׁ֥וּthey grope
yemashuH4959 →
בַֽצָּהֳרָֽיִם׃at <the> noon<s>
vatzohorayimH6672 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 4:19But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
it leads to
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Isaiah 59:9–10
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- John 12:35
Through
Amos 8:9And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
it leads to
- Mark 15:33
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
- Matthew 27:45
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
- Luke 23:44
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
- Jeremiah 15:9
The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put…
- Micah 3:6
Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
- Mark 15:33
Through
Deuteronomy 28:29and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:10
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
- Isaiah 59:10
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.